(indieWIRE: 12.05.01) — Organizers of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival haveannounced the shorts lineup for next month’s event. 79 shorts will screeneithers as part of a shorts program or prior to a feature. The selectionswere chosen from a list of 2,100 submissions.

Commenting on the shorts program in a prepared statement yesterday, TrevorGroth, Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival said, “Talented filmmakersfrom the U.S. and around the world submitted exceptional works making theselection process a difficult, yet inspiring endeavor. The high caliber ofwork in the festival will certainly raise the perception of the short filmas an art form in and of itself. And while it may sound cliche, these are‘must see’ films displaying complete artistic vision.” [Eugene Hernandez]

(indieWIRE: 12.05.01) — While our man in Hollywood will likely clean up atthe box office this Friday with “Ocean’s 11,” the future Steven Soderberghsof the independent world are offering up some enticing alternatives. Infact, several of this week’s releases echo the kind of dramatic precisionand intimacy of Soderbergh’s own debut “sex, lies, and videotape.”

Patrick Stettner‘s “The Business of Strangers” (opening in New York, L.A.and San Francisco this Friday from IFC Films) is just such a successor.Taking place in the postmodern cold of airport waiting areas, hotels andbars, stranded businesswomen Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles gohead-to-head in this battle of wits, sexes and generations. At the film’sSundance 2001 premiere, critic Andy Bailey wrote for indieWIRE, “Stettner’spolished first feature does a laudable job of examining the fear andloathing among women determined to get ahead, or simply stay afloat, incorporate America. The film, perhaps inevitably, progresses towards aballbusting psychosexual revenge climax that feels like an indie retread of‘9 to 5,’ but its two deftly drawn central characters prove formidableenough adversaries to keep the movie feeling fresh.” Read the completereview. indieWIRE will publish an interview with Stettner in Friday’s edition.

A different sort of battle, just as psychological, but with national, notsexual politics, comes in Danis Tanovic‘s “No Man’s Land,” another debutfeature that shows the promise of a filmmaker who’s here to stay. Coming toNew York this Friday from Bingham Ray‘s newly staffed MGM classics division United Artists, “No Man’s Land” is an arthouse alternative to the blusterystudio combat spectaculars on display. The film places three soldiers (twoBosnian, one Serb) inside a pressure-cooker — a trench in the middle of thefrontlines — as ethnic epithets fly amidst the gunfire. According to criticPeter Brunette, who reviewed the film for indieWIRE at the Toronto FilmFestival, “No Man’s Land” is “a powerful recapitulation of everything aboutthe recent Balkan wars that we’ve been desperately trying to forget; it alsoworks as a suspenseful thriller, a subtle psychological study of men andviolence, and a probing (if predictably inconclusive) analysis of just whatwent wrong. At times, it’s even downright funny.” Read the complete review.Our interview with the writer-director is in today’s indieWIRE.

On the documentary front, Hartmut Bitomsky‘s “B-52,” receiving its U.S.premiere at New York’s Film Forum today, looks at the flying mammoths ofdestruction in all their gross and glory. 185 feet wide, 450,000 pounds, ata price tag of $74 million each, the B-52 is ‘au courant’ (“B-52s Rain Bombson the Taliban” — New York Post, November 1, 2001), as all things war-likeseem to be, nowadays.

Another microcosm of conflict can be found in Campbell Scott‘s DV feature,“Final” (opening in New York from Cowboy Pictures). One of the many InDigEnt pictures purchased by Lions Gate pre-Sundance 2001 (others in the package included Richard Linklater‘s “Tape” and Ethan Hawke‘s upcoming “Chelsea Walls“), “Final” creates another compact psychological struggle, as Bill (Denis Leary) wakes up one morning in a mental hospital, thinking the year is 2399 and fearing a “final” injection that will presumably take his life.His doctor Ann (Hope Davis) evaluates his paranoid rants, as Bill’s madnesstakes on increasingly more realistic possibilities. The Twilight Zonematerial of “Final” is an odd choice for director Scott (most known for hisacting in “The Spanish Prisoner” and “Longtime Companion,” and hisco-directorial debut with Stanley Tucci, “Big Night“), but he remainsfaithful to the intimate sci-fi dimensions of this mini-movie.

Also in theaters this week is a trio of foreign films that are finallylanding in U.S. theaters. Strand Releasing will put out “Princessa,”Henrique Goldman‘s story of a Brazilian transsexual who journeys to Milanwith dreams of becoming a woman. A winner of Best Foreign Film at Outfest2001, “Princessa” follows Fernanda as she falls in love with a marriedbusinessman who leaves his wife and offers her the chance for normality —be careful what you wish for. Spain’s 1999 work “Sobrevivire” (“I WillSurvive”), from directors Alfonso Albacete and David Menkes, is a romantic drama starring Emma Suarez. It hits New York via Hollywood Independents. And from new foreign film distributor Films Philos comes German hit road movie “In July,” a tale of unrequited love, set against the multicultural backdrop of Central and Eastern Europe. Directed by German-born Turk Fatih Akin, the movie stars Moritz Bleibtreu (“Run Lola Run“) who received a German Film Award for his role as a young physics teacher who breaks free from hishumdrum life.

And since it’s that time of year again, when Oscar nominations are on everystudio exec’s holiday wish list, this Friday will see two 1-week Oscarqualifying runs in Los Angeles, for Sony Pictures Classics “Last Orders” andMiramax‘s “Baran.” “Last Orders,” directed by Aussie New Waver turned Hollywood transplant Fred Schepisi (“Barbarosa,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” “I.Q.“), adapts Graham Swift‘s prize-winning novel about a group of men who journey to find a resting place for their recently deceasedbuddy’s ashes. The film’s veteran cast — among them, Michael Caine, BobHoskins, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, and Ray Winstone — have received rave reviews since the film’s Toronto 2001 premiere on September 10th.(Variety: “One of the major pleasures of the film is the performing of somegreat British talent. Caine, Courtenay and Hemmings were all big stars ofthe British film revival in the ’60s and carry with them indelible memoriesof those halcyon days. They’re all in excellent form.”) “Last Orders” willopen wider in theaters in mid-February.

“Baran” is the latest work from Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi (whose “TheColor of Paradise” and “Children of Heaven” are among the most successfulIranian imports ever). The film (opening in regular release in February)tackles the subject of Afghan refugees and adolescent love in this latestaccessible tale, set in a construction site on the fringes of Tehran. It isinteresting to note that “Baran” was already submitted for Oscarconsideration by Iran and need not receive a theatrical run to be eligiblefor the Academy’s Foreign Language category. Even with its obscure titles,Miramax still knows how to play the marketing game.

>> Gardos Bubbles Over With $50,000

(indieWIRE: 12.05.01) — Eva Gardos, director of “An American Rhapsody,” was announced last week as the winner of the inaugural Perrier Bubbling UnderAward for a first-time feature director. Gardos will receive a $50,000 granttowards her next production. Based on her own life, “An American Rhapsody“is the story of a young girl, first abandoned by her parents escapingCommunist Hungary, who later returns to the family fold in Americansuburbia. Paramount Classics released the film in August. Four otherfilmmakers competed for the prize: Joseph M. Castelo (“American Saint“),Joel Hopkins (“Jump Tomorrow“), Randy Redroad (“The Doe Boy“), and Rosemary Rodriguez (“Acts of Worship“).

The competition partnered with five U.S. film festivals (HamptonsInternational, Nantucket, Florida, Taos Talking Pictures, and Santa Barbara International) to select the five finalists. The jurors for the final winner included executive producer John Sloss, directors Brad Anderson (“Next Stop Wonderland“) and Rose Troche (“Go Fish“) and indieWIRE’s own editor-in-chief Eugene Hernandez. [Anthony Kaufman]

>> Hargrove Acquires St. Louis Opener, “The Uncertainty Principle”

(indieWIRE: 12.05.01) — Worldwide distribution rights to the 10th St. LouisFilm Festival opener, “The Uncertainty Principle” have been acquired byHargrove Entertainment the company revealed this week. The film, directedby Toni Sherwood, is described by Hargrove in a press release as centeringon a physicist named Keith Schwab who is involved in a series of experimentsthat he hopes will allow him to eventually create a “Quantum Computer.”Through the succession of experiments, the “answers” to questions are moreabout intuition, perseverance, sacrifice, courage and artistic prowessrather than technical ability.

Hargrove Entertainment has produced and distributed programming totheatrical, television, video, education and new media markets worldwide forthirteen years. The company is also currently releasing the documentary,“The Falun Gong’s Challenge to China” by Danny Schechter. [Brian Brooks]